I have a life-changing conversation with award-winning Theatre/Film Director, Professor Emeritus at UCLA, and Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC), José Luis Valenzuela. We discuss José’s formative years in Mexico, witnessing the misery of the wealthy as a child, identifying with the oppressed, desiring to create social justice theatre from a young age, working with El Teatro de la Gente, creating the Latino Theatre Lab in 1985, directing Manuel Puig’s Kiss of the Spider Woman at the National Theatre of Norway, directing the world premiere of Dementia, written by Evelina Fernandez for the Latino Theater Initiative, choosing artistic integrity over commercial success, working with Scott Bakula & Cheech Marin in the film Luminarias, encouraging me to share my creative gifts, and much more.

Recording Date: Wednesday, June 2nd, 2021

To learn about José’s work at the Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC), please visit: https://www.latinotheaterco.org/

To learn more about José, please visit: https://www.tft.ucla.edu/blog/2011/09/08/faculty-jose-luis-valenzuela/

To learn more about me, please visit: www.blindmaninblack.com